Hello Fan Friends!

Today I’m going to be talking about my hair-which if you read my post reviewing Aaron Carter’s new single Pyro-you’ll see is no longer dark. I’ve gotten a ton of compliments since trading in my raven locks for a ravishing red. Going red is not for the faint of heart but it’s definitely worth the risk if you’re an adventurous person when it comes to your hair. My first piece of advice if you are thinking about changing your hair color or style is to visit a local salon-please do not try to do this yourself without the help of a professional. Also, while talking to your stylist make sure to settle on a red that complements your complexion and eyes. It is essential to bear in mind that not all shades of red are created equal-so this is my full disclaimer to make sure you settle on a red that is complementary to you. Please keep in mind that what flatters me (or the celebrity whose hair you might be eyeing up) might not flatter you. You may absolutely love ‘The Little Mermaid‘ but that doesn’t mean that ‘Ariel red’ is the right color for you (don’t feel bad-it’s not right for me either!). So now you’re probably asking yourself, why the change? Well pull up a seat ladies and gents, it’s story time!

I have been a bit of a hair Chamaeleon-  you name the color and I’ve “red carpet” rocked it. However, there is always a reason why I end up parting ways with a color. Let’s begin with highlights, oh it always begins with highlights. Highlights are very beautiful, flattering, and well, after a while, boring. For me, too much of my natural color was present in highlights which left me feeling bored. Anyone who really knows me knows that I cannot stand having boring hair. If you are the type of person who is only looking to enhance what you’ve got then this style is absolutely perfect for you. If not, like most people who start off dabbling with highlights, you’ll eventually want to be blonder. This is in evitable and it’s best to just embrace it. 

I dabbled with a lot of colors in my teenage years but for the most part I was blonde from age 16 to 19. There were two summers I died my hair black and fire engine red. I wish I had pictures to show you but my Mother made me change it so quickly I barely had time to really see if I liked it. During that time in my life I relied a lot on the opinions of others when it came to how to style my hair. I’ve been told blondes have more fun, hell , even Marilyn Monroe starred in a movie titled ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes‘ but blonde eventually got boring. Sure, during that time in my life it was sassy, sexy, fun, and also the hair color which garnered me the most attention (and free shit) through the years but I also found it frustrating. For me, blonde hair meant being played into the stereotype of the “dumb blonde”. People tended to “dumb things down” for me often times without even realizing that they were doing it.

While blonde does turn heads, it is very high maintenance. To avoid brassiness, I needed to use clarifying shampoo twice a week at least. The shampoo itself is purple which might seem counterintuitive but it actually works. It was also a very drying and damaging shade to keep in my hair. My advice to anybody looking for that platinum blonde shade is to make sure that you deep condition and silk infuse your locks (I still use CHI silk infusions it works wonders and leaves your hair softer than a kitten’s ear!). This will minimize the impact of the damage done to your hair and also leave it feeling soft and healthy. Some people try blonde hair and never try another color again other people (like me) get tired of the maintenance. For me, whenever my roots would grow in they looked entirely too dark and I was spending way too much money getting touch ups every four weeks. Everyone’s different, my hair happens to grow fast so when my roots would come in I would have what I began to call “skunk tail” and it was much too obnoxious for me. 

The next phase in my life, I went brown. Now nothing is wrong in experimenting with shades of brown- in fact a lot of women who’ve been blonde for years tend to try this at least once in their life-but it turns out it was the color I was least happiest with. I did a level 4 chocolate brown which was absolutely stunning when I first got it done, however, I hated the fade factor. My natural hair tends to pull red so as the weeks would roll-on my beautiful chocolate brown would always fade to a brownish red which wasn’t very beautiful on me. I kept the style for a grand total of two years pretty much to the appeasement of relatives who really liked the way it looked on me. At that point in my life though-I was tired of being unhappy with colors so I let my natural color grow out.

I really tried to appreciate my natural color it’s like a dark dirty blonde with flecks of red in certain lights. After spending a grand total of a year and a half trying to love what the good Lord gave me I decided I needed to be blonde again. After one particularly frustrating day at work I went to my nearby salon and went platinum blonde once more.

I stayed blonde for a grand total of 3 1/2 years before the call to go darker was one I couldn’t ignore any longer.

My hairstylist loves to tell the story of how six months before my wedding I told her I wanted to dye my hair black. She was flustered and quite taken aback that I would even ask something like this after being blonde for so long. However, we ended up being very pleased with the results (both her and I ) and so that was how I ended up with the black hair. My hair definitely was stunning, like shiny black tourmaline, and I truly loved it for the 4 years I kept it but the problem I had with the blonde hair persisted. I ended up with reverse skunk tail which actually meant when my hair would grow in it looked like I was graying. It seemed that while I loved having black hair, it aged me out completely. Faced with the prospect of wanting something new but knowing just how hard it would be to reverse years and years of black hair color buildup on my hair I took matters into my own hands.

Here’s a piece of advice if you ever have a hair color such as black or even dark brown that you do not like a remedy for stripping color is probably in your medicine cabinet and shower already. What you need is vitamin C tablets, I used the 500 mg ones. Next you crush the tablets and combine them with head and shoulders shampoo (or any other clarifying shampoo for that matter). The goal is to make sure the shampoo has sulfates in it which are not safe for color treated hair.

Once the mixture is complete, you need to dampen your hair and put it all over your entire head. Make sure to thoroughly distribute it throughout your hair and leave no spot untouched before putting a shower cap on and going about your day for at least two hours. Finally rinse the mixture out and then shampoo your hair as normal with the head and shoulders shampoo. I did this twice and effectively stripped most of the color from hair. This made the process of going lighter much easier on both my stylist and my hair. 

After seeing WWE live with Becky Lynch on the card, I really loved the way her copper colored hair shone. I never saw myself as somebody who would love to be a redhead but after seeing just how attention grabbing her hair was without being over-the-top, I wanted to try it. Becky is not a natural red head and yet the color looked perfectly natural on her. I was still at the venue of the show when I decided (with the help of my stylist) I would go red as well!

The process was a long one and if you have dark hair you can expect to spend at least a good 2-3 hours at the salon lifting your hair to the color it needs to be. However, once the process was done it was totally worth it! I ended up falling in love with a hair color I never thought in 1 million years that I would! Red gets a bad wrap but it is truly a very flattering color if you pick the right shade for you.

Caring for your red hair is a totally different animal then caring for dark hair. Because red hair dye has the largest molecules of all the colors it takes quite a long time before it actually gets embedded enough into your hair shaft. This means red is the color that is most prone to fading the quickest. I found the best way to preserve my red hair is to wash it every 3 to 4 days with dry shampoo in between if it looks a little greasy.

Prolonging the life of your red hair is important, you can also help make your color last by washing your hair in cooler temperature water. Why cold water? Because cold water keeps closed the hair follicles and thus traps in your color longer. Also, protect your hair with heat protectant spray before exposing your hair to any heat products and wear hats in the sun to keep from having it fade your hair.

While red definitely wasn’t what I ever expected-it was something I truly fell head over heels in love with. Only God knows how many years I will keep this color before I get bored, however, I like to think I’ll be keeping this color for all eternity. Either way, it’s pretty safe to say I found a color that’s right for me.

What color do you love the most on yourself? Leave a comment below I’d love to hear from you!